The Methodist Church has praised the government's ratification of the UN's Arms Trade Treaty. The President of the Methodist Conference, the Reverend Ruth Gee, hailed it as a "legal milestone that should help to protect those who are abused and oppressed". Countries that ratify the treaty will be required to establish national arms regulators to control the exporting of conventional weapons and weapons components, and to properly regulate arms brokers. Domestic weapon... (GunPolicy.org)

UNITED NATIONS — Eighteen countries, including five of the world's leading arms exporters, ratified a landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade on Wednesday, giving a significant boost to the campaign for the treaty's entry into force. The ambassadors of the 18 countries handed over the documents at a U.N. ceremony on the first anniversary of the General Assembly's adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty, which is aimed at stemming the global... (GunPolicy.org)

Some 20,000 Maltese were estimated to own firearms according to a study carried out by Eurostat. However, only two per cent said they owned the gun for personal protection, much less than the EU average of 14 per cent. A total 21 per cent said they were collectors. The study, conducted in collaboration with Misco last month, found that only seven per cent of those surveyed had owned a firearm. Some 78 per cent said they agreed with cooperating with neighbouring EU... (GunPolicy.org)

A 31-year-old Libyan citizen from Tripoli married to a Maltese woman and residing in Malta, was Monday morning arraigned in court along with a Maltese man after 40,000 bullets were found in the Libyan's car on Saturday following weeks of surveillance by the Malta police. The Libyan, Feraj Issa Ali Yacoob, and Michael Azzopardi, a 55-year old Maltese, appeared in court on charges of illegally selling ammunition to Libyan organisations when they knew or could suspect... (GunPolicy.org)

ISTANBUL - Turkish custom agents knew exactly what they were looking for when they searched the Libyan-flagged fishing vessel. Thanks to a last-minute tip, what was supposed to be an empty cargo hold was discovered to be carrying almost 1,000 pump-action shotguns and more than 400 handguns. "Arms and munitions were discovered on a ship bound for Libya on April 21 in Istanbul," a Turkish official said. The discovery followed other major weapons seizures in the country... (GunPolicy.org)

The police are holding a Maltese man in his 30s in connection with the murder of Ronald Galea, who was shot outside his meat factory in Ħal Far on Monday. The man, who the police said was "assisting investigations", works in a field similar to that of the victim, Assistant Police Commissioner Pierre Calleja said during a press conference yesterday. He did not reply when asked whether the man was cooperating with the investigation but said that tests to determine... (GunPolicy.org)

There are about 20 registered guns, including pistols and machineguns, for every 100 people in Malta, according to statistics released in Parliament. In all, there are about 90,000 weapons registered, including some 12,400 pistols, excluding those owned by the police force. Among the registered firearms are 52,224 shotguns and 8,373 airguns. The number of registered pistols, revolvers, rifles, machineguns and sub-machineguns reaches a staggering 17,036. The... (GunPolicy.org)

For some odd reason, current gun licensing laws in Malta have given rise to serious anomalies. On one hand, prospective hunters have to wait months to get called for a test to permit them to procure their guns. On the other hand, if one wants to buy a firearm that is not going to be used for hunting, all one has to do is join a target shooting club. It takes about a month to get registered. This involves basic training on how to handle a weapon, knowledge of the... (GunPolicy.org)

Italian authorities yesterday announced they had interrupted an international arms trafficking deal that was to have operated between China, Malta, Italy and Libya, and which planned to supply hundreds of thousands of weapons to Iraqi insurgents, international media reported yesterday. The operation was to have seen an unnamed Maltese company acting as a middleman between Chinese weapons producers and Libyan buyers, who would, in turn, move the weapons on to Iraqi... (GunPolicy.org)

Last week's second reading debate on the Arms Bill should serve as a model of how discussions should be conducted in Parliament. It was not a long debate, by local standards. Both sides of the House basically agreed with what was being proposed but then MPs expressed their own views on the Bill's strengths and weaknesses. The large number of weapons held in Maltese households and the success in international shooting competitions by William Chetcuti were undoubtedly... (GunPolicy.org)

There are 71,602 registered weapons in Malta, Justice Minister Tonio Borg told parliament in reply to a question by Labour MP Adrian Vassallo. Dr Borg tabled a full list of the type of weapons and the number of each weapon registered. There are 48,950 registered shotguns, 4,108 pistols, 3,816 revolvers, 2,969 air pistols and 2,944 air rifles. In addition, there are 2,405 rifles, 3,463 harpoon guns, 1,392 muzzle guns and 908 air guns. Interestingly, there are 169... (GunPolicy.org)

An arms collector was robbed of 28 fire-arms, as well as ammunition, from his home in Swieqi on Sunday morning. Sources said the victim, a man in his 60s, was an avid arms collector, and had been collecting fire-arms since childhood. The weapons were kept in a back room in the man's house. Sources said initial investigations showed that the man's daughter, in whose name the fire-arms were registered, had forgotten to close the door leading to the back yard of the... (GunPolicy.org)

Britain has the toughest gun laws in the European Union. Following the 1997 Dunblane massacre of 16 children and a teacher at a primary school, it banned handguns and other weapons with the aim of making the country a safer place to live in. However, instead of focusing on the causes of such a tragedy and enacting laws ensuring appropriate safeguards, they opted for a knee-jerk reaction. Britain is now paying a dear price. Two youngsters in Birmingham have just been... (GunPolicy.org)